Friday, April 25, 2008

I will post when I have more solid details but I think I'm going to be able to go to Italy with my friend, Ro. This girl has connections and I might not even have to pay for my flight over. I don't want to post any more about it because I could jinx it. But I'll know in 24-hours.

I can tell you this much. It will be exactly what I've been wanting to do since late last year.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

So my friend, Ro, calls me about 2 days ago and excitedly tells me of an opportunity to go to Italy. Its all laid out. All we have to do is get our tickets and show up. $1600 for a round trip ticket to Naples. We can fly into Rome and maybe make it cheaper. I don't think I can swing it. We'll see.

So anyway, Ro is a soccor fan and she has skipped work and has sked me to join her at a local sports bar to watch the game and strategize a trip to Italy or some place else.

I am typing this post from my blackberry (my brother calls it a blueberry) and was inspired to do so from watching the game.

Honestly, I don't get it. How can countries, entire countries, get exited by this game. Two teams kick a ball up and down a field hoping to make at one goal more than the opposing team. A lot of the final scores are something like 2 to 1. So much work so little return.

I don't get the strategy of. The game. I'm not a big American football fan but I think its more interestng than soccor. Each play has a strategy derived from both sides. Hockey and basketball are more intresting than soccor.

I'm not debating that soccor entails skill to play. I just think there are more interstning sports.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

So, you think that Clinton is responsible for the negativity in the Democratic campaign. What negativity? As Hillary has stated, this has been been an extremely clean campaign. Both candidates have done a great job keeping their gloves on.

She is making an extremely important point in her campaign and it has been consistently stated over and over. It's this: Which candidate has the best ability to beat McCain in the upcoming election and can deal with the tough issues? One of the things the delegates and super delegates have to take into consideration is the big picture. And Hillary painted the big picture in her controversial ad. She never said anything negative about anything in that ad. Her message was clear, she can take on the role of the white house and she's not afraid to go toe-to-toe with McCain.

That is the consistent message she has been sending.

I've been listening to Obama. I like him but he doesn't really say much. What he says he says eloquently and nicely and I enjoy watching him. But he doesn't have as much substance.

I think that she should continue to hang in there until the delegates decide who their nominee is. I think this is clearly demonstrating her stamina and dedication to what she beleives. She asks a valid question, why hasn't Obama closed the deal?

Hillary has done a really good job at addressing the issues head on. She speaks clearly regarding her position on different issues. I feel like when Obama speaks, his focus is on how he sounds and presents his position and not on what he is saying.

So, Ms. Clinton won Pennsylvania. I'm really very proud of her. I like to go to CNN.com and let the videos play while I'm working on papers and stuff so I've been listening to a lot of her interviews and stuff. She's really growing on me.

The idea that we can have a woman as President of the U.S. just really really rocks.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Ever since I can remember, La Boheme has been a part of my life. My earliest memories begin when I was about 8 or 7 and my mother and sisters would sit on the sofa in our living room listening to it play from the Hi Fi. This was one of those reel to reel stereos before cassette players and CD players.

I didn't know the words but I knew the story. And the end always made me cry. Then when I was close to 14 or 15, my sister was listening to the vinyl version of the opera and so I joined her and read through the libretto for the first time. I confiscated the record and kept it in my room and played it over and over and over again. I used to play the 4th act repeatedly because I wanted it to stop hurting so much.

So, about 10 years ago I saw La Boheme for the first time. I was very very nervous about seeing it because there was so much anticipation. What if it didn't deliver the way I always imagined it would be like? Thankfully, it didn't disappoint and I've seen it few more times since.

This evening, my friend John took me and his oldest daughter, Sara, to see La Boheme at Wortham Center. For some reason, it was just off. I'm really very disappointed.

Initially we thought it started at 8. Thankfully we arrived at Will Call at about 7:20 to pick up our tickets; and were immediately greeted by the chimes hastening us to our seats. So, already we were off-kilter.

Then, there were the people in front of us who decided to talk during the performance. I hate it when people do that.

Musetta wasn't right. I think that her entrance and her performance, though lesser than Mimi's, is important and should be done correctly. Her melodies are beautiful. Here they went over the top with her flamboyancy and "loud" behavior. She seemed really shrill and not attractive. Her personna didn't match the delivery of her lines.

Then of course, there was the woman a few seats down and in front of me that felt the need to unwrap candy. There is no excuse for this. If you bring candy to the opera because you think you might want to eat some, unwrap it BEFORE the performance begins. It's not that difficult, really. The people around you do not want hear you unwrap the candy and then listen to you try to decide what you want to do with the little plastic wrapper when you're done. During the 4th act, this woman proceeded to eat a pear. WTF? No, I didn't hear her eating it, I saw it.

About 2 weeks ago, John and I went with friends to see Tosca at Opera in the Heights. There was a woman there who had an entire bag of wrapped candies in her lap and during the first act proceeded to unwrap several. It was horrible. It was so bad it was comical and both myself and my friend were desparately trying to stifle our laughter.

The ecoustics were off. When performing at the opera, there are no microphones so the audience relies on the performers ability to project their voices in order for us to be able to hear them. But for some reason, I had trouble hearing Rudolfo, especially at the end when he discovers Mimi is dead. I couldn't hear Schaunard (or was it Colline) tell him to be brave.

A cell phone went off during the first act in the middle Mimi describing her life to Rudolfo. Then during either the 3rd or 4th act some beeping alarm went off and it took at least 30 seconds or so for it's owner to silence it.

During the final lines of the opera, the sur titles projected the words "power off" so there was rumbling in the crowd while Rudolfo was crying Mimi's name. I wasn't paying attention to the sur titles at this point but noticed the audience rumble a little and become restless. It was like a wave. It was after the opera that John told me what he sur titles indicated.

After the performance was over, dozens of people headed for the door during curtain call. I never noticed this before and maybe it's because whenever John and I go to the opera we are usually in the first 7 rows. This time we were 18 back. I could not believe the number of people who rushed to the doors.

I sincerely hope this is not my last memory of La Boheme; I'm afraid it is not a pleasant one.

I thought I would post a few photos of me and my little guy, Seamus. He's the love of my life. Everyone should have a guy like him in their life. I feel so blessed.

This is us watching Lord of The Rings last night. He likes to watch T.V. with me.... well, I guess he's not watching t.v. here. Maybe it was a scary monster scene or something and he's hiding his face. :)

Persians like to do that.

They like to bury their faces against your hand or your neck.

Here he is helping me. He really likes being with me while I work.....like right now. He's on his back, letting it all hang out, snoozing away.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Ok, so I met with the design firm today to wrap up discussions about stationary, yard signs and such. I had my mind made up before going in. Then they had print outs of my stationary options. I couldn't decide between two of them. So they printed out 30 business cards from both designs for me to pass out and get opinions on.

My poor agents. I have been bugging them to death all along the way. I think they are ready for me to just make a decision and move on. It's not as easy as it would seem, you know? But I can tell you, I'm ready to give birth to this damn "baby".

I've mailed out samples to everyone I can think of.

The good news is that this is NOT holding up my web page. I think by end next week, we'll be able to launch.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

My Sister, Sunwolfie came to see me this week. We spent our time watching movies and doing needlework. This is a lot of fun for us, even though it probably sounds boring to most of you. We did, however, manage to go out and have dinner with friends during the evening.

I took her to Dharma cafe where we had dinner with my friend/her sister-in-law. We managed to finish 2 bottles of wine between the three of us and then proceeded back to my place where I concocted a drink with Tequila and Cranberry Juice, adding triple sec to the mix. It was actually pretty tasty. I had to add sugar to the mix. I'm going to try to experiment a little with this and see if I can get it just right.

Thursday night we had steak at my friend John's.

A couple of times we stopped at the Starbucks at Gray and Shepherd hoping to have a Timmy sighting. No such luck.

Unfortunately for me, I was fighting a head cold the whole time using Nyquil and Dayquil as my only source of ammo. I was so loopy the whole time she was here. In spite of it, we had a really nice time.

Oh, and what movies did we watch? Becoming Jane, The Jane Austin Book Club, Feast of Love, Death at a Funeral, Michael Clayton, Beowolf, Enchanted and The Squid and the Whale. Thumbs down on the last one.

I was at the bookstore Friday hoping to be able to replace a book I borrowed and destroyed; and I came across a book titled Mr. Darcy's diary. Anyone know if it is a good read or not?

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Remember the negotiation from Hell? The house was inspected and we discovered a problem that required us to need a specialist to come out and assess damage and repairs. This required my client to have to renogiate a term of the contract. It was like we were back at square one and I thought I was going crazy. The realtor on the other side just would not do her job. Finally my client looked at me and said, "Let's put a bullet in this deal and walk away". I was so relieved. (That's the bad news)

So, today a property came on the market and my client loved it. We put in the offer at 6 p.m. and at 10:00 wrapped up negotiations; we have a solid deal. This is a much easier realtor to work with. Oh, and for the extra little cherry on top, this contract is $80k more than the first one. (That's the good news)

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

I made a new friend last month and I can't tell you her first name because it is SOOOO unique. So, I'll tell you it begins with the letter "R". That's all I can say.

She invited me to a charity event this evening at Ra Sushi. PEOPLE. I had so much fun this evening. I don't know how long its been since guys have tried to "pick me up" but they were trying. "R" and I were each other's wing man. (I even tried to hit on someone; "R" had to break the ice) I don't know any other way to say it but I had so much friggin' fun!